From the Edge
by Fenrisulfir
Summary: After a mysterious bombing of Hightonview Terrace, a number of families moved away from the area. As the children begin high school in Odaiba, will they cope with the changes? Warnings: AU, Male Pairings, Language. TaiYamato TakeruDaisuke
1. New Faces

Business first, sadly I do not own digimon or its characters. Otherwise the show would have been oh so much more interesting… innocent grin. Anyways, this story will contain male pairings, if your offended by that, perhaps now's a good time to go back. Planned pairings are tai/yamato, daisuke/takeru, jyou/mimi, and ken/kari. Changes are indeed possible, so review!

Plot Changes: The trip to summer camp was uneventful, the "digi-destined" don't exist and as far as anyone knows neither does the digital world… the younger children are beginning high school (apologies that this is based off the American school system, as the Japanese one is foreign to me (ha ha no pun intended)).

Ages:

Taichi Yagami: 18 (Kamiya English version)

Yamato Ishida: 18 (Matt English version)

Sora Takenouchi: 17

Mimi Tachikawa: 18

Jyou Kido: 18 (Joe English version)

Koushiro Izumi: 17 (Izzy English version)

Takeru Takaishi: 16 (TK English version)

Hikari Yagami: 16 (Kari Kamiya English Version)

Daisuke Motomiya: 16 (Davis English Version)

Miyako Inoue: 15 (Yolei English Version)

Iori Hida: 14 (Cody English Version)

Ken Ichijouji: 16

"Speach"

'Thoughts'

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Chapter One: New Faces

A gentle autumn sun filtered through wispy clouds, the air warm and breezy. A group of transfer students make their way up the steps of Odiaba High. Two boys and two girls, the first, leading the group, has a bush of auburn hair, held away from his face by a pair of rather worn looking sports goggles. His skin is tan and he has a few old soccer scars. One of his stunning features are his deep chocolate brown eyes, eyes that convey a great deal of emotion. He grins up at the school, seeming not to have a care in the world.

The younger girl on his right has short cut brown hair, held in front of her ears by a pair of pink hairpins, her bright maroon eyes seem to observe every detail of the new building. She seems to be holding a gentle conversation with the first boy.

The second boy, who seems to be the girl's age has his burgundy locks pushed into a number of short spikes, and he too is wearing a pair of goggles upon his forehead. His soft hazel eyes glance between the boy and girl, listening intently to what they say.

The last member of the group seems to be drawing the attention of the current student body; her shocking pink hair and rather revealing outfit earning the longing looks of several guys and the jealousy of a great deal of the female population. She finishes a conversation on her cell phone before the first girl turns to speak.

"Hey Mimi, don't ya think you could have worn something a _little_ more proper for our first day at least…?" the younger girl asks the pink haired girl with a slight grin.

"Uh, no," she replies as if it was obvious "then I would totally come off as drab and boring as the rest of you" She sticks out her tongue and receives three pairs of eye-rolls back.

"Hey Tai do you think we'll make it on the soccer team here?" The spiky haired youth questions the one with the bush. "I heard their team's really good…" The elder male just smiles back and ruffle's the boy's hair. "Of course Dai, they might be good but we're better!"

Daisuke smiles up at his idol, pleased to hear his response. The four of them almost reach the doors when Mimi lets out a shriek. Tai and Davis spin around while Kari turns her head. They all look just in time to see a boy carrying far too many books collide right into the pink haired wonder. The two of them end up in a heap as the young man starts apologizing profusely.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry! I couldn't see where I was going, so many books you see, and I just didn't see you. Are you alright, do I need to go get a nurse? Your not bleeding are you?"

Tai and Daisuke blink at how rapidly the blue-haired guy can apologies, while Kari starts giggling, offering her hand to help Mimi out of the pile of books.

She takes Kari's hand and spins on her heel to tell off the poor guy, however said heel ends up snapping in the spin, and she just winds up tripping into him and knocking him over into a flower basin.

"Oh! Noooooo my new heels!" she wails. "I just bought these today… what am I gonna dooooo?" she starts crying, cradling her broken shoe like a newborn kitten.

Tai sighs and goes to help the young man out of the dirt. "Sorry about her, she's kinda sensitive about her uh… accessories." He puts on his charming smile "My name's Taichi, who're you?"

The other boy brushes off his pants, still rather flustered. "I'm Jyou, Jyou Kido. Is your friend alright, I really didn't mean to run into anyone like that." He bends down to start gathering his scattered text books, throwing worried glances at Mimi who is still sniffling, evidently giving both her shoes a proper burial in the nearby trash bin.

She turns around from the bin, opening her backpack, and cheering suddenly. "Oh well… now I can try my pink sandals!" She holds said article of clothing up proudly before daintily slipping them on her feet.

The three companions and several students face palm and groan as the pink princess continues into the school without them. "H-hey, wait up I didn't catch your name!" Jyou stutters as he rushes after Mimi, nearly colliding with a petite boy standing outside the doors.

Tai and Dai exchange glances as they both go "She's hopeless…" and then both are slapped in the back of the head by a mischievous Kari who runs off to find Mimi "Don't be so mean you two!"

"Owww!" they groan in unison "You just hit us! How are we being mean?" Taichi yells after his sister.

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"Yamato? What are you doing out here?" A girl with medium length red hair enquires to a blonde boy leaning against one of the courtyard trees. "The wind's gonna mess up your hair…"

The boy opens one eye, giving the girl a carefully measured look of indifference. "I heard there's some new meat coming in from Hightonview…" he gestures to the group who is walking towards the school. "I thought I'd see if any of them were worth my notice… and if they might have something interesting to say about the bombing."

The red haired girl glances past him at the group, she grins slightly and looks back to Yamato. "Well the kid with the crazy hair is kind of cute don't you think?"

His eyes widen slightly and then narrow as he hisses out "Sora! Anyone could have heard that!" He pulls her away from the tree over to a bench where another young man is busily typing away on a laptop. "…and I don't think my _"girlfriend"_ should be saying things like that to me, her _"boyfriend"_"

Sora gives him a withering look before glancing down at the other guy. "Hey Koushiro, working on something?"

The boy looks up very briefly and nods before continuing to work and speak. "Mhmm, and you know Yamato, no one is even around us, thanks to your wonderful "Ishida Aura" everyone is too afraid that if they come too close you'll turn them to ice." A smirk pulls at the edge of Koushiro's lips. "So I doubt that anyone would hear about your loose interests in sexual preference."

Yamato sends him a glare, before allowing himself a small smile. "Damn right, one glance from the "Ice God" and you're done for." He looks up to see Jyou rushing past with a pile of textbooks in his arms. "Oh boy… Kido's heading straight for them…"

"Today's dessert says that he knocks down every last one of em." Yamato wagers.

"Aww… I think I'll be nice this time, my brownie says he makes it past alright." Sora replies.

Koushiro types a few things in and chuckles. "My mom's cookies says he'll smack right into the most attractive one."

A screech followed by profuse apology and Koushiro snickers at his unlucky friends. "Never doubt the power of mathematics and probability. I'm looking forward to lunch today."

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"CLASS!" a balding old man bellows, a vain attempt to silence the room full of giggling girls, and rough housing boys. A vein twitches in his forehead as he puts a whistle to his lips, "The Screecher" is engraved into the side.

A high pitched whine pierces through the air, effectively silencing everyone. The coach looks at the wincing teens a bit smugly. "Good morning students, and welcome to Physical Education III. We have a new student joining the class, everyone give a warm welcome to Yagami Taichi."

Tai steps out from behind the doorway, grinning sheepishly and trying to rub the ringing out of his own ears. 'Alright Yagami… its time to shine, if your gonna make friends fast its time to bust out the big guns'. He cocks his head slightly to the side and unleashes his trademark grin; positively radiating "friendly" and "outgoing" to the guys, and "unbelievably sexy" and "confident" to the girls, several of whom squeal and start chattering about the new arrival. 'Well at least I impressed the girls… too bad I don't want any of 'm' Tai thinks, his grin widening slightly at the irony.

Taichi walks over and takes his spot standing between a young blonde and a boy with indigo hair. The blonde offers him a friendly smile, while the dark haired youth looks at him rather calculatingly. 'Hmm… blondie is sorta cute, but too young I think… the other kids kinda scary' Tai's grin falters slightly under the scrutiny of the youth.

"Well, first things first, there are a few new subjects you will learn in this class that were not a part of the previous levels." The coach pulls out a dumbbell. "We will have a two month section on weight training in winter…" He then removes a wooden sword from his bag, eliciting several excited whispers from the guys. "…followed by basic swordplay…" He reaches in a final time and removes a dartboard. "…and a section on accuracy and aim games."

Tai grins, liking this school more and more 'Dai is gonna be jealous when he finds out'.

The sound of a door snapping shut draws everyone's attention to the other end of the gymnasium. Several girls gasp and fawn at the blonde god heading towards the group.

The coach frowns. "You're late." Yamato merely holds out a slip as he passes by "I had to switch to this class… here's an office slip." and takes a spot between Taichi and the blonde boy, not once even glancing to Tai. "Takeru." He nods towards his younger sibling.

Tai, meanwhile can't help but stare at the late arrival. 'Holy crap… this kid acts like he owns the place… and with those looks who cares- whoa Taichi, too fast. Don't go making a crush on your first day!' He shakes his head trying to clear his thoughts before holding out his hand to Yamato. "Hi there! I'm Taichi, what's your name?"

Yamato glances down at the hand like its pathogenic. 'Dammit, I shoulda kept my mouth shut.' He looks Taichi in the eyes, flicking on the legendary glare. Tai is taken aback but holds eye contact determinedly. Yamato can't help but feel a bit impressed at this new kid's tenacity. "Did I ask for an introduction…?" he drawls. He sees the gears in Tai's head turn, full throttle towards mad. 'He's got nice eyes though…' Yamato muses. 'But he needs to learn who he's dealing with…'

Tai's face flushes with anger. 'Oh that's it Goldilocks, no way in hell are you talking down to me!'

"I wasn't aware that I had to –ask- to introduce myself, but if that's the way you act maybe I don't care to anymore." He growls back. 'Ha… that ought to take him down a notch'

Yamato's eyes narrow further as one fist balls up at his side. 'This kids got guts' he thinks 'And I'm gonna beat them right out of him'. He starts to swing but Taichi acts first, his fist connecting with Yamato's chin. The class releases a collective gasp, along with several shouts of "No way!" "Holy crap he hit Ishida!" "He's so dead."

Yamato's mind was reeling. 'This punk actually hit me!' He blinked once, rubbing his jaw, and then reacted, his fist sinking into Tai's gut sending the brunette backwards. The indigo haired teen had wisely stepped away as soon as Tai attempted the introduction, he looked between Yamato and Tai, his face kept expressionless but inside he was cheering Tai on for taking a stand against the "Ice God". 'C'mon bush head… Yamato needs someone to knock him off his high horse'

The shrill pitch of the whistle put a halt to any further fighting, as both boys were dragged up roughly by the coach who began shouting immediately. He led them both out of the gym with a slam.

The indigo haired teen glanced over at Takeru. "Well TK, it looks like your brother's made a friend."

The blonde glanced between the doors and the other kid before making a sheepish grin. "I dunno about a friend, but one things for sure. Yamato's not gonna ignore a challenge like him."

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End of Chapter One. Comments? Like it, hate it, anything about my writing style? Reviews!


	2. Punishments and Predicaments

I do not own digimon or its characters. This story will contain male pairings, if your offended by that, perhaps now's a good time to go back. Planned pairings are tai/yamato, daisuke/takeru, jyou/mimi, and ken/kari. Changes are indeed possible, so review!

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Chapter Two: Punishments and Predicaments.

'Man this place is way bigger than our old school… I hope I don't get lost. Ack! Where am I?'

Daisuke looks up and down the corridors, before finding the room number he was looking for. 'Ah good old Drawing' he thinks, walking in to the class room. He spots Kari near the middle, chatting with a blonde haired kid with a funny looking hat. 'Oooh this is too easy, I've gottta comment on that'

"Hi Kari, are you going with Gilligan on a three hour tour?" He asks with a silly grin.

"Davis! Don't be so stupid!" She looks over at Takeru "I'm sorry TK, he can be a little insensitive at some times." (AN: Chronologically, this is directly after Physical Education)

Takeru just smirks, his eyes narrowing in a much more playful version of the legendary "Ishida Glare". "Don't worry Kari, sticks and stones can break my bones but the giant porcupine's words are just funny." He smirks at Daisuke who blushes slightly running a hand through his burgundy spikes.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. So your names TJ?" 'Ha ha, Ill screw his name up every time now just to drive him nuts'

"Actually it was TK… but my name is Takaishi Takeru" He glances Daisuke over 'The hairs rather silly, but then so is my hat… overall he's pretty cute.' Takeru grins.

"Nice to meet you TA, my name's Daisuke Motimiya but a lot of people call me Davis or Dai, I'm Kari's cousin." Daisuke smiles innocently holding out his hand. Takeru takes it, using a little trick his brother taught him, and allows his fingers to gently run across Daisuke's palm as he releases the other boy's hand, he returns to his conversation with Kari, watching Dai out of the corner of his eye. He whoops mentally as the spiky haired boy stares at his palm blushing slightly.

"TK?" 'Oops… wasn't paying attention to what Kari said… uhm…uhm… just nod!' He nods to her as she raises an eyebrow. "So you do think Davis is a sexy beast?" 'WHAT? SHE ASKED ME THAT?' Takeru blanches, stuttering out a reply. "W-wh-what? N-n-no I never said that!"

Kari giggles and then starts laughing uncontrollably. Takeru and Davis both turn bright red and seem to be trying to sink behind their desks. "Actually TK I asked if you want to eat with us at lunch" she snickers "But I could tell you weren't listening so I thought I'd punish you for nodding."

"Well why'd you have to involve me in your little scheme?" Daisuke whines, the pigment of his face finally returning to normal. Kari just shrugs "It was convenient." 'And you two would be so cute together!'

'She is a scary little girl… better stay on her good side' Takeru nods, smiling. "Of course I'll eat with you guys." 'It gives me more time to find out about Daisuke…'

Meanwhile, a quiet Ken observes the three of them from the back of the room.

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"…fighting is NOT going to be accepted on school grounds Mr. Ishida! This is the third time I've had to deal with you and we're only a month into the school year!" The principal had been going on like this for a good ten minutes, switching between telling Taichi what a bad start this was, and Yamato how her patience with him was running thin.

Yamato sends Tai a glare 'Stupid kid, why can't you just leave me alone like everyone else does. I don't want a bunch of friends and I definitely don't want some spastic bush head as one!' "I didn't start this Ms. Payne, he punched me first, I was just defending myself!"

She stares down her nose at him, like a vulture stares at a starving rodent. "I am aware who instigated this fight Mr. Ishida, and while Mr. Yagami threw the first punch, you aggravated him into it." She sighs rubbing the bridge of her nose and throwing them both an exasperated look. "You are both going to stay after this week for detention. Your punishment is that at the end of the week you both must turn in a two page paper on the other person." The two boys begin to protest but are silenced by her holding up her hand. "If you refuse, then it will be a months detention and we will be calling your parents…"

Yamato and Tai glare at each other, sharing the same thoughts 'This is all your fault!'

Tai sighs "Alright… the last thing I need is my mom hearing about this…" Ms. Payne nods to him before they both look over at Yamato.

'Part of me wants to screw this just to spite him into dealing with his parents. But if I have detention for a whole month that's gonna ruin my social life… and probably a few practices with the band. Damn you Yagami!' He growls "Fine, Ill see you in detention Yagami." He storms out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

The principal sighs. "It would be best if you leave Yamato alone outside your detentions Taichi. He is not a very sociable person outside his closest friends, and I would rather not be seeing you in here for another fight any time soon."

Tai nods and leaves the office. 'Like I wanna see that ass anyways. Even if it is nicely shaped an invi- NO! STOP THINKING LIKE THAT TAICHI!' He winces trying to smash all thought of Yamato from his mind.

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Mimi was practically beside herself. Not only had she lost her favorite pair of shoes to some total klutz, she was partnered with the klutz in Photography! Mimi glared up at the ceiling 'If any higher powers find this amusing they can kiss my butt!' She looked over at Jyou, who had finally stopped apologizing once Mimi had threatened to smack him over the head with her bookbag.

He was listening to the instructor carefully, taking down notes on proper developing techniques and their first project, which was to take 20 pictures of people going about their daily lives.

Mimi tilted her head slightly, thinking a little more carefully now that the memory of her fallen heels was _almost_ a thing of the past. 'If he wasn't so scrawny he'd be pretty hot… he is handsome I suppose I have to give him that.'

'Oh no… she's looking at me again, is she going to yell? Stay calm Jyou… its just a girl… a gorgeous girl with attitude who completely hates your guts right now. Ahhh! Darn that's not helping me stay calm!' His pencil snapped under the strain he was putting on it, and he quickly used this as an opportunity to escape Mimi's scrutiny to go sharpen it.

Mimi smiles slightly, watching him quickly slide away from his desk. 'I do believe I'm making him nervous, this could be fun…'

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Ken left Drawing last, watching the now formed trio of friends chatting as they split up to head to their 3rd class of the day. He glanced at his sketch, a capture of the moment he would be bringing up with his favorite gossip in his next class. A near perfect rendering of Takeru and Daisuke blushing furiously as Kari smirked.

Ken's mouth lifted into a similar smirk, as he proceded towards his foreign language class; Spanish.

"Hola Sora, que paso?" Ken greeted.

"Estoy bien Ken, gracias" Sora replied.

Sora glanced at her young friend 'Oh he's got the smirk, something's up' and ushered him to their corner of the room. "Well, what's got that sly look on your face today"

Ken feigned innocence "Sly look? Why whatever do you mean Miss Takenouchi?" His eyes sparked with mischief as he removed his sketchbook from his backpack. "Fine fine, you know me too well Sora."

She grinned, taking interest as he flipped to his latest work.

"Well my dear, earlier today Takeru befriended two of the new kids, Daisuke and Kari." He gestured to their respective forms on the page. "Miss Kari decided to jokingly accuse TK of thinking Daisuke was attractive… and well, this was their most interesting reaction."

Sora looked a bit surprised. 'Wow TK, swooping in on someone so soon? He is a cute kid though, the spiky hair is adorable.' However she decided to bring up something else she noted. "You sure put a lot of time and detail into this Kari girl."

Ken blinked, that wasn't what he expected, he looked at the page and realized he had indeed left Takeru and Daisuke relatively simple while Kari had a great detail of shading and expression put on her face. 'Curious' he thought 'I didn't realize I was putting any extra effort into drawing one person.'

Sora watched his expression as he mulled over her point. 'Maybe he doesn't like her, I guess he could have just been working from left to right.'

However, the two of them had little time to continue their thoughts, as the teacher announced they would each be presenting their oral reports, earning a collective groan from the class.

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End of Chapter Two. Comments? Like it, hate it, anything about my writing style? Reviews!


	3. Getting to Know You

I do not own digimon or its characters. This story will contain male pairings, if your offended by that, perhaps now's a good time to go back. Planned pairings are tai/yamato, daisuke/takeru, jyou/mimi, and ken/kari. Changes are indeed possible, so review!

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Chapter Three: Getting to know you.

'Damn Tachi. Damn him to the blazing scorched depths of hell!' Yamato chewed on the edge of his pencil, looking at the blank sheet on the desk, and the empty seat across from him. 'If that bastard ditches out after I stoop down and take this crap…'

He gazes around the room, from the white washed walls, the boring posters on chemistry and lab safety, the sub, trying desperately to stay awake behind his desk, but failing miserably as he nods off every so often. 'This would be so easy to get out of… dammit you bush headed idiot where are you?'

Said idiot came bursting through the door, breaking the substitute's stupor as the man tried to veil his yelp of surprise with a coughing fit. Tai murmured an apology to the man before sitting down in front of Yamato, glaring at the other boy and earning a harsh look back. 'Ooohhh so he thinks he's got the problem hmm? Cocky bush-head freak, I'll teach you to fight with me'

Yamato yawned, feigning indifference, and slipping his foot out, which hit Tai in the shin. The brunette hissed as the treads of Yamato's sneaker dug into his skin, leaving a painful and rather dirty mark. He glowered at the other boy before stomping his foot down, but Yamato had already moved his leg back, a smirk of triumph on his face.

"Shall we get this over with Yagami?" He drawled out.

"By all means" Tai hissed between his teeth. "What's your full name?"

"Ishida-Takaishi Yamato, and yours?"

"Yagami-Kamiya Taichi"

This piqued Yamato's interest; the other boy's parents were separated too?

"Your parents are divorced?" He probed, trying to hide his interest.

"No… dad passed away a few years ago." Tai looked down at the desk with a blank expression.

'Mmm… so little boy bush-head has some problems' Yamato thought, 'Still that is unfortunate… but I don't care. Lots of people have problems, he seems to deal with his just fine' Still, in the corner of his mind he empathized with the other teen. He only too well recognized that hollow, gaunt look, he had worn it so many times.

"What about you… you've got a split last name too." Tai spoke, the color slowly returning to his voice with each word.

"Mom and dad divorced a little after my younger brother was born." Was the reply.

'How cryptic' Tai thought 'You'd think he'd have a little more to say… but then I guess I should too. But I'm not telling _him_ about that'

"Where'd you come from Tai?"

"I was born in Odaiba, and lived there until the m- bombing."

"What was that about anyways, what was it like?"

Taichi sighed mentally, he had expected to get a lot of this, and indeed many children had asked him about it through the day, so he just spat up the same lie he told everyone else.

"Scary I guess; a bunch of explosions and people screaming, one of the buildings had a huge depression blasted into its side. There were all these scars and blast marks in the road and stuff"

Yamato listened, some of his interest showing by the way he leaned in slightly. 'Scars…? Maybe flying debris…' He thought. He watched with some interest as Tai's gaze seemed to go out of focus, as if he was reliving the event. He wondered what it had been like that it could have this effect on the other boy. Still… why did his expression almost seem… awed?

------- Flashback ------- AN: The original digidestined event never happened, the battle of Greymon and Parrotmon never was. As such, things have progressed unchecked in the digital world, and thus we get this…

"Taaaaaaiii… there's a monster outside our window!" Kari screamed.

Tai blinked, looking up at his sister who was sleeping on the top bunk. Her arm was quivering to the window and she had a very frightened look on her face.

He turned, and definitely wished he hadn't. Outside was a rather large yellow eye, black scaly flesh, and a nasty looking helmet over it all. A pair of fangs jutted out slightly, glistening in the moonlight. The beast seemed to be clinging to the side of the building's wall, but it suddenly sprung off, the room shook and its form became clearer.

The figure was human in proportion and shape, despite its reptilian head. It had a shock of sickly blonde hair coming from under the helmet, and was wearing blackened armor. Its hands were concealed beneath enormous metal claws. A massive shield was upon its back, split down the center like a scarab's shell.

It was leaping at a figure that looked quite similar, except the coloration. This figure had orange scaled flesh, bright teal eyes, and a shock of flame-red hair. Its armor was shiny silver with red accents.

The two figures clashed with a screech of steel and a massive shockwave. The window busted as shards rained onto the floor. Tai leaped up and held Kari protectively, their mother burst into the room and gasped at the broken window, then yelling at the sight outside.

The black monster bounded across the ground, leaping towards a building and kicking off. An apartment balcony was demolished by the movement, but it was now a good hundred feet in the air. It raised its claws as, much to the horror of all watching, a ball of flaming crimson and red energy formed. It hurled this at the other figure, which swung his massive claw weapons, dispersing the dark flames across the ground. They scorched away the grass and left several trees alight. A few nearby cars burst into flames, alarms screeching.

The silvery warrior raised its claws, hurling a ball as bright as the sun at the falling black.

It collided with its sinister target, sending the black figure into a van, which crumpled like a tin can under the creature's weight.

The figure growled its voice like that of a demon. "A lucky hit Wargreymon… perhaps you are my worthy foe." Its hands were upon the ground, red light coming from them. "But… perhaps **_not!_**" this time it hurled two balls, spiraling erratically at the other. The other beast, now identified as 'Wargreymon' slashed apart one fiery orb, but the other struck it in the side, bringing the creature to one knee. This was all the latter needed, the black warrior slicing its claws down at the other's head.

"No!" Tai yelled, in retrospect, he could only wonder why, maybe it was because the orange one seemed to be a little more cautious of what it damaged, maybe it was because it seemed less evil and in fact almost benevolent, or maybe it was because he almost felt a strange bond to the fighter kneeling in the park.

As if Tai's shout had snapped the creature from its pain, it brought up its own claws, blocking the attack. "You'll have to try harder than that BlackWargreymon." It glared into the golden eyes, pushing back with all its might. The black knight was caught off balance, scrapping backwards across the concrete.

"HOLY CRAP IT'S A PAIR OF FREAKING MONSTERS!" A voice screeched out. A voice Tai recognized. The voice of family. Daisuke.

"Damnit Dai!" He leapt out the window (luckily they lived on the second floor, and there was a fire escape just below) running across the battlefield and grabbing his cousin who stood there dumbstruck. The two creatures blinked, temporarily shocked at the display of either great courage or great recklessness by Tai.

"What a brave little human… but this is a battlefield, and none shall be spared if they are in my way." The black knight growled lashing a fist and releasing another ball of energy, this one exploded above the two boys, a large chunk of the balcony falling towards Daisuke.

'NO!' Tai's mind screamed, he wanted to lunge, to push Daisuke out of the way, but the hells of his past had his legs paralyzed; the memories of Kari, sick, unconscious, in the hospital just because he had been a fool, because he had made her play with him. The memory of his mother's words, the slap, the disappointment in his father's eyes, and most of all… Kari's words when she came home "I'm sorry I couldn't kick the ball big brother" Now Tai was petrified by his own self hate, watching a chunk of concrete four times their size fall at Daisuke.

He shut his eyes, not wanting to see such a graphic site. He heard the crunch, felt the spray of dust hit his face, the pebbles of rock scrape his feet. Tears poured from his eyes, 'Daisuke's dead… Daisuke is-'

"Taichi-senpai!" A pair of shaky arms encircled his chest, Daisuke was shivering against him. 'What…no… Dai…he couldn't have' Tai opened his eyes.

The concrete was lying in splintered shards around them. The fist of the orange beast above them, and and its bracer weapon hanging in ruined pieces from the fist. Tai watched in awe and horror as a trickle of blood came from the fist, a large chunk of the concrete embedded in it. Wargreymon's eyes were squinted in pain.

AN: To have a slightly more serious story, digimon do not call out their attacks, and while they indeed will "bleed" data in the digital world, in the real word they take living form, and thus will live by the laws of nature here. ; something I just thought would improve the story for a more adult audience

'It…saved us?' Tai thought. He brought his hands up, to touch the creature's scaly face.

"Are…are you okay?"

Wargreymon jerked, a feeling he had never known coursed through him.

'Such…power…' He thought.

A bright light emitted from his hand, the wound healed and the bracer-claw restored. Wargreymon flexed his arm and turned to face his opponent, who was currently staring, surprised at the regeneration.

BlackWargreymon's eyes narrowed at the boy. 'So… this child… empowers you somehow? Then I will just have to destroy him too!' The beast roared, bringing up his claws and forming a massive ball of destruction.

Wargreymon did the same, the golden ball of flame becoming the size of a small house. The twin digimon hurled their attacks at each other; the collision rocked the apartment complex, flames burst out as the equally powerful spheres of destruction collided. Wargreymon slammed his shield down, protecting Tai and Daisuke. Blackwargreymon shielded himself with his claws, the flames licking across his flesh.

It was then that there was a flash of blue light, and both were gone. A hooded figure standing between where they were. "What a mess…" the figure grumbled.

"I thought Wargreymon would know better. So close to two of the chosen children at that." The tan cloaked figure raised its hand, a ball of white data hovering in his palm.

"Hmm… a bombing, which would explain most of this… we'll go with that." The sphere exploded, sparkles of blue light falling around the complex. The onlooker's faces went blank, as their memories were modified to believe this had all been a bombing. Only five children would know what really happened…

Kari standing in the window, watched her mother go into a stupor.

Mimi, standing on a first floor porch watched her own parents blink about confusedly.

Koushiro, standing on the roof with a camera, wondered why his adoptive parents were yelling at the landlord to call about a bombing.

Taichi held Daisuke, the younger boy still shaking from his near death experience, he stared forward where the reptilian warrior had stood but a moment ago.

------- End Flashback -------

"Hellooooo…? Earth to Taichi get your head out of the clouds, we're free to go." Yamato droned, trying to hide the edge of panic in his voice. 'The kid had been staring into space for ten minutes!' He glanced at the sleeping sub. 'And naturally this guys of no use…'

"Huh…? What? Yamato?" Tai blinked, realizing he had just completely tuned out the world.

"I said… we've been here long enough we can go for today." He pointed to the clock. "Now let's inform the lethargic sub that we are leaving"

The two of them shook the man awake, who started yet again, claiming he had just been resting his eyes. He looked at the clock and nodded, allowing them to both leave for home.

"Well… guess I'll uh… see you tomorrow then." Tai mumbled, waving to Yamato.

"Whatever" Yamato waved him off 'What the hell… he's acting like we didn't totally fight and get into a bunch of shit'

------- ------- -------

Tai walked down the road, seeing his new apartments in the distance. 'Geez… Yamato probably thinks I'm some sorta basket case by now. Why did I have to blank out like that?' He glanced around the streets, the people bustling by, going about this daily business. 'Yeah bet you couldn't do that if you saw a pair of armored monsters fight to the death outside your home…'

He trudged up the steps, coming to the apartment door and letting himself in. A pair of sodas and four muffins sat on the table. He smiled slightly, looking at the note his mother had left.

-Out at work, will be home to make supper (don't worry Tai I know that stomach of yours)

He laughed.

-I hope you two had a good day at school today, and I'll see you both soon.

PS: Tai, please leave Kari at least **one** muffin.

He chuckled, picking up the soda and draining it. The bemused expression slipping away as he looked to the picture on the far wall. His family… back before dad had… before the accident.

He sighed, the hollow look back in his eyes, he shuffled to the bathroom, piling clothes on the floor and turning on the shower. He picked out one of his towels (he demanded he have his own towels since Kari and his mom only bought girly pink ones. While his were navy blue with little waves on them) and set it on the counter. Stepping into the warm jet of water he sighed, his untamable hair finally relenting under the fearsome power of that ever precious liquid. This was not a shower to get clean though, this was something Tai did when he thought about his dad, or what had happened with Kari, or almost losing Daisuke. He slumped down at the end of the tub, spray flattening his hair down over his eyes, running in streams across his face, down his neck and pooling in the basin of his collar-bone. His arms slung around his knees, which were drawn near, but not touching his chest. He stared down at the white curves of the tub, lost in his own thoughts…

------- ------- -------

Yamato entered his dad's apartment quietly. He hated the way sound would echo in here if you slammed the door. It made the place seem so empty and lifeless. He walked to the fridge, taking out some pasta salad and dumping it onto a plate. He heated up some of last night's lasagna (cooked by him of course) and finally glanced with boredom at the note that would be telling him to do exactly what he was.

-Yamato, working late again, sorry bud. Leftovers are in the fridge, just save some for me. Love, Dad.

He sighed, dad always worked late. He was always gone on trips, and always was sorry. He knew he couldn't really hold it against his father, if his dad didn't work so hard Yamato wouldn't be able to enjoy such a nice apartment, he wouldn't have his guitar, or his fencing swords.

The microwave beeped, signaling that last night's masterpiece was now ready to be consumed as a significantly less appealing dinner. He ate quietly, thinking about the day.

'What was up with that kid… he blanked out for a long time. He sounded so bored about it all, and yet… almost like he was hiding something.' Yamato stopped mid chew, eyeing the pasta noodles with a calculative eye, as if it were Taichi on his fork. 'What are you hiding Yagami…' He put Tai- erm… the food into his mouth. 'Whoa… where'd that thought come from' He blinked and swallowed.

"One day and the kids already messing with my head, great." He groaned.

He washed the plate and fork, placing them back into the cabinet when he caught a whiff of himself.

'My… aren't I fragrant today. Time for a shower'

------- ------- ------- ------- -------

End of Chapter Three Comments? Like it, hate it, anything about my writing style? Reviews!

**Tai-an-yama's-boy**: Don't worry I plan to keep working on this. Just was a little busy with stuff lately.

**Moppy**: Why thank you, I hope you enjoy the rest as much as you did the start :D

**Foxy-comic-death**: Ill try my hardest to update chapter 4 before I leave for vacation!

**Lalapanda**: Wow, I think I like you. That long winded paragraph made me smirk. Worry not, Yamato is no push-over in this fic. Hope you don't mind the chapters that are more for the other pairings ;)

**Sakura blossoms4**: I'll be tryin to update worry not! As for what happens :P well im planning on a fairly long fic, theres plenty of plot twists to come!


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